GUN OWNERS: PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY

A new state law allows gun owners to protect the privacy of your personal information--including your home address.

In order to take advantage of this new law, and to protect your privacy and the security of yourself, your family, home or business, you need to complete a special form, and return it to your county licensing agency.

You should not delay. The personal information included on your gun permits, including your home address and other information, could be released to anyone who requests it after May 15.

The need for this new law was made clear late last year after a downstate newspaper published the names and addresses of tens of thousands of lawful gun permit holders in that region. I believe that publication of that information was an invasion of those permit holders’ personal privacy, and potentially exposed those citizens to harassment, or worse.